Heavy hoisting crane



May 9, 1967 Filed Jan. 27, 1965 A. MATTSON ET AL HEAVY HOISTING CRANE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. I g 4e 15 2 4 I I I I I I I g 5 22 INVENTORS AI I M07750 May 9, 1967 Filed Jan. 27, 1965 A. MATTSON ET AL HEAVY HOISTING CRANE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

I II II D J/l d JNVENTORS AKA/C M aewr x452 May 9, 1967 MATTSQN ET AL 3,318,463

HEAVY HOI STING CRANE Filed Jan. 27, 1965 3 Sheets$heet 3 Fig.5

film/6 IN V EN TOR; J5 x 6,11

United States Patent 3,318,463 HEAVY HOISTING CRANE Arne Mattson and Bengt Angersson, Vasteras, Sweden, assignors to Allrnanna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget, Vasteras, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Jan. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 428,399

Claims priority, application Sweden, Feb. 3, 1964,

1,292/64; Feb. 4, 1964, 1,347/64; Mar. 24, 1964,

3,688/64; Apr. 2, 1964, 4,057/64; June 1, 1964,

6,647/64; Nov. 5, 1964, 13,342/64 4 Claims. (Cl. 21248) The present invention refers to specially heavy lifting,

a hoisting crane for comprising a mainly vertical crane mast, the crane mast supporting bars, a crane arm tumable round a vertical as well as round a horizontal axis and attachment means fixing the position of the crane mast and its supporting bars.

The tendency of development within the technical industry is towards ever larger units as long as it is possible for them to be transported to the customer without being dismantled. This places high demands on the means of transport and specially on the capacity of the lifting means which are necessary for loading and unloading the manufactured products. One of the main problems connected with this is that the number of specially heavy lifts is however relatively small and that a lifting apparatus of conventional type with very great lifting capacity'is a purchase of such magnitude and with regard to the few times it can be used it is diflicult to make such an investment pay. One way of solving this problem has been to make the lifting apparatus as a pontoon crane, which because of its movability can serve a relatively large area. However, a pontoon crane requires access to suitable water ways and even for movements of a short distance this is a fairly expensive procedure. Only in a large, busy harbour can such a pontoon crane help to solve the heavy lifting problem.

The object of the present invention is to provide a heavy hoisting crane which through an extreme simplification of the construction can be manufactured at a relatively low price and at the same time partly depending on the extreme simplification of the construction can be easily dismantled and can be divided up into a number of units of such low weight that the crane can be transported with conventional transport means and can be divided up into a number of units of such low weight that the crane can be transported with conventional transport means and can be erected and dismantled without special auxiliary equipment apart from relatively simple lifting apparatus with relatively small lifting capacity. The invention is characterised in that the said main parts of the crane are removably fixed to each other and to the attachment means of the crane and that the weight of each such unit is less than percent of the maximum lifting capacity of the crane.

A heavy hoisting crane manufactured in this way consists substantially of a number of straight bar elements, whose manufacture does not require any specially advanced techniques and which consequently can be manufactured at a relatively small cost. The simple embodiment of the parts of the crane also means that they can be transported by lorry, railway wagon or similar conventional transport means. The simple build-up of the crane also makes it possible to achieve a low Weight for the main parts of the crane. According to the invention the weight of each undividable unit should be below 10% of the maximum lifting capacity of the crane, but the invention makes it possible in itself that even considerably lower weights can be achieved so that the heaviest part only weighs around five percent or a still smaller part of the total lifting capacity of the crane. By the units being made so light, the erecting and dismantling of the crane can even under diflicult conditions be carried out in ten to twenty hours.

The main parts of the crane can have substantially a choice of cross sections, provided that the compressed elements have a sufficient buckling strength. However, the most simple embodiment and the lightest units are obtained if the cranes mast, arm and supporting bars are made as tube elements with suitable attaching arrangements. The crane according to the invention can be made as a statically determined unit which loads the base only with vertical power components. In order to bring about this, the attachment means of the crane are fixed in the horizontal plane by being connected with each other with an at least mainly horizontal stay system. This embodiment is suitable for cranes which are occasionally placed on a base of a relatively simple kind which has sufiicient strength but otherwise lacks special attachment points or similar arrangements. The said horizontal stays can in the same way as the other parts of the crane be made with advantage of tube elements. In order to transfer the weight of the crane to the base, supporting elements are arranged which are suitably pivotally fastened to the main part of the crane. One or several of the supporting elements can be displaceably arranged on the base, for example as sledges or carriages. This is an advantage in such cases when without actually moving the crane it is desirable to change the work section. The attachment means of the crane can, of course, also be fixed in the horizontal plane by being connected to the base on which the crane is supported. This embodiment is specially suitable when the crane is used on special erection places which have previously been made good, for example on board a ship. With this embodiment one or several of the attachment means can be made displaceable in relation to the base, for example so that they are controlled by a rail or some other corresponding rigid guiding means.

A specially simple embodiment of a crane according to the invention produced if the crane mast and one of its supporting bars is fastened to a platform which supports the Winch machinery of the crane. It is sufficient to stay the mast with only one additional supporting bar which is preferably arranged to stay the mast in a plane which at least substantially is at right angles to the plane defined by the platform, the crane mast and the first mentioned supporting bar. In order to achieve greater flexibility with reference to the Working area of the crane, the lower attachment point of the second supporting bar is made removable so that the angle between the support planes of the crane mast can be varied. In order to facilitate the erecting and dismantling of the crane, the crane mast can be arranged to fold in the longtudinal direction of the platform. It is then also possible the raise the mast with the help of the winch machinery of the crane.

A hoisting crane according to the invention is specially suitable on board a ship since it can easily be dismantled when the ship sails, taken from one ship to another and be transported by ship to harbours which do not have lifting apparatus with sufiicient lifting capacity. The form of the crane and the normal construction of a ship are combined in a specially favourable way if the crane is arranged on the ship so that the crane mast and one supporting bar are arranged near one side of the ship. The other supporting bar of the crane mast is fastened at its lower end at the opposite side of the ship. By this means the crane acquires a sufl'iciently large base even on relatively small ships and its work section becomes specially suitably directioned for loading and unloading of the ship. It is besides very simple to arrange for the necessary attachment means for the crane near the sides of the ship. The erecting and dismantling of the crane is made easy principally by the crane mast being arranged to be foldable in the longitudinal direction of the ship. If the crane as described above is provided with a platform which supports the winch machinery, this platform should for the sarne reason be arranged substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the ship.

The other particulars and special advantages of the invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying figures which show schematically different embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the crane according to the invention in upright position. FIG. 2 shows another side view at right angles to the view according to FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the crane seen from above. FIG. 4 shows the crane in folded position. FIG. 5 shows the bearing of the crane mast. FIG. 6 shows a detail at one of the attachments of the supporting bars.

In the figures 1 shows the turnable mast which is supported by two su porting bars 2 and 3. At the foot of the crane mast a crane arm 4 is fastened at a horizontal pivot 5. The crane arm 4 is turned with the crane mast 1 and its angle position in relation to the crane mast can be regulated with the help of a luffing wire 14. The crane is further provided with load wires and load hook 16. The load wires form a freehanging block pulley 23 above the load hook 16 and then run over pulley wheels 17 to other pulley wheels 18 at the top of the crane mast and from there through the tubular mast to pulley wheels 19 and further to a winch machinery 20. The lufling wire 14 runs over a number of block pulleys 24 and 25 and over a pulley wheel 21 through the tubular crane mast 1 in the same way as the load wire to a lufiing machinery 22.

The lower attachment point of the supporting bar 2 is shown by 6 and this attachment and the winch machinery of the crane is supported by a platform 7. The crane mast 1 is foldably fastened on this platform as can be seen more closely in FIG. 5. The positioning of the supporting bars of the crane 2 and 3 are shown by FIG- URES 2 and 3. The supporting bar 2 and the platform 7 define a'supporting plane and the supporting bar 3 another supporting plane substantially at right angles to the first mentioned.

FIG. 2 shows the positioning of the crane on a ship. The deck of the ship is shown by 8, the bulwark by 9 and a load hatch by 10. The platform 7 of the crane is supported by the deck 8 which is provided with suitable strengthening means, not shown. The supporting bar 3 is fastened at an attachment point 13 which is permanently connected with the deck 8 of the ship. The platform 7 is directed in the longitudinal direction of the ship and the crane mast is foldable in the same direction.

In the shown embodiment the attachment points of the crane are fixed in the horizontal plane by being fastened to the deck of the ship. The crane can however be formed as a statically determined unit in itself by attaching a horizontal stay 26 between the attachment point 13 and the foot of the mast. This embodiment is less suitable on ships, but can with advantage be suitable if the crane is more or less occasionally positioned on a permanent base.

FIG. 3 shows such an embodiment of the crane. Since the crane is not anchored to the base, the tilting moment of the load must be balanced with the help of counter weights. The counter weights consist in this case of a number of water-filled containers 27, arranged at the lower end of each of the supporting bars. The working area of the crane arm is shown as a sector 28 and the position of this sector can be changed by both or some of the lower attachment points of the supporting bars being made displaceable, for example along a rail 29 on the base. The attachment points of the supporting bars can also be permanent and can be fixed to each other by being connected with the help of a horizontal stay 30, an alternative which is shown in the figure with dashed lines. The

crane shown is arranged on a quay whose outer edge is shown by 31.

FIG. 4 shows the crane in folded position. The crane is provided with a supporting trestle 32 which consists of two bars pivotally arranged at the platform 7 and connected with the one supporting bar 2 of the crane mast, at about its mid-point. The lateral distance between the lower attachment points 40 of the supporting trestle 32 is relatively great, through which the supporting trestle produces such a lateral stability that the crane mast can be raised without further lateral support. At raising of the crane, a wire 33 is coupled from the winch machinery 20 of the crane to the supporting bar 2, suitably near the attachment point 39 of the supporting trestle. By winching in the wire 33, the crane mast is raised and the supporting bar 2 will then reach such a position that itcan be fastened at its lower attachment point 6. Then the second supporting bar of the crane is moved out to the side and fastened at its corresponding attachment point.

In order to facilitate the raising and folding of the crane mast 1, it is provided with a special bearing construction which is shown in FIG. 5. At folding and raising, the crane mast turns round a horizontal shaft 34 which is supported by a support 35 arranged on a turnable base plate 37. The crane mast is shown in folded position and its under side 36 which has a relatively wide contact surface bears when the mast is in upright position against the upper side of the base plate 37. A conical elevation 38 fits in a corresponding opening 41 in the mast and brings about centering of the mast in its upright position. The base plate 37 is journalled in a combined axial and radial bearing 42, shown in the figure as a spherical roller bearing. At raising the mast the base plate 37 is fixed with help of screws 43 or other locking devices in order to facilitate the raising and to unload the bearing 42. The crane mast is at its lowest part provided with attachment plates 44 which make attachments for the shaft 34 as well as for the shaft 5 of the crane arm,

In FIG. 2 it can be seen that the supporting bar 3 at its lower end is fastened to a special attachment means which comprises a permanent main attachment point 45, a link arm 46 fastened to it and a supporting device 47 fixing the link arm. The use of such a link arm at the attachment point means that the crane may be more easily erected, partly because the supporting bar fastened to the link arm is shorter and thereby also lighter and partly because the increased number of bearing points give greater play, which can often be sufficient for avoid.-

ing the often great difliculties which occur when a stand' with very great dimensions is to be fastened to permanent attachment points. The arrangement also has the advantage that without any increased costs of importance it is possible to have a series of ready-made link arms of different lengths, so that the most suitable of these may be chosen when erecting the crane.

FIG. 6 shows a way of effecting an adjustable attachment point at one end of the link arm 46, in this case at the upper end. This is brought about by putting in changeable distance pieces 11 and 12 in an oblong hole 10 in the link arm 46 or the supporting bar 3. The distance pieces 11 and 12 lie against the shaft 13 of the attachment point and against the ends of the oblong hole 10. An adjustable attachment can be combined with for example a screw device for setting the proper length.

under unloaded conditions, after which the setting is fixed with the help of distance pieces or similar which are able to take up the full working load of the crane.

In order to be able to reduce the weight of the parts.

in cranes according to the invention as much as possible,

it is advantageous to make the crane mast, the crane arm and supporting bars and stays as tube elements. This can be seen partly by FIG. 5, where the crane mast is shown partly in section.

With cranes according to the invention with lifting capacity of tons or more, the parts of the crane can be so large that in spite of their relative low weight they are difiicult to handl This is specially true of the crane arm. The problem can be solved by freeing the crane arm from all the parts which are removably fastened to it of which the load and lufiing wires with accompanying pulleys and attachment devices are the heaviest. In order to bring about an easy dismantling of the said units, according to the invention as shown on FIG. 1, the load wire lifting pulley 23, the pulley wheels 17 and luffing wire block pulley 24 are arranged so that they are supported by one and the same shaft 48 in the top of the crane arm 4. A specially simple dismantling of the whole of the wire system is obtained if the shaft 48 is supported in an axial slot 49 in the crane arm top, which slot is open at its outer end, but has a locking device, for example in the form of a cover 50 covering the crane arm top for fixing the shaft 48.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but many variations and modifications are feasible within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. Hoisting crane for specially heavy hoisting, comprising a substantially vertical crane mast part, bar parts supporting the crane mast, a crane arm part turnable around a vertical as well as around a horizontal axis and attachment means fixing the position of the crane mast part and its supporting bar parts, said main parts of the crane being removably fixed to each other and to said attachment means, the weight of each such part being less than percent of the maximum lifting capacity of the crane, a platform carrying Winch machinery for the operation of the crane, said crane mast part and one of the supporting bar parts being fastened to the platform, the crane mast part being foldable in the longitudinal direction of the platform, and means including a pivoted 6 support trestle connectable to the raising the mast part.

2. Hoisting crane according to claim 1, in which the support trestle is tiltably arranged on the platform and connected to one of the supporting bar parts of the crane mast part.

3. Hoisting crane according to claim 2, the support trestle straddling the platform so as to have such lateral stability that it is capable of supporting the crane mast part and parts connected thereto during the raising of the crane mast part and the positioning of the supporting bar part supporting the mast laterally relative to the platform.

4. Hoisting crane according to claim 1, said platform being provided with a support trestle extending substantially above the level of said platform and forming a support for one of the supporting bars of the crane mast, cable means operatively connected to said supporting bar and to said winch machinery, whereby pulling operation of said winch machinery causes raising of said mast.

winch machinery for References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 808,678 1/1906 Peterson 21448 X 1,445,136 2/ 1923 Gunn. 1,666,857 4/1928 Hunt 212- 1,958,780 5/1934 Berby 212-70 2,562,086 7/1951 Farrell 212--3 3,148,778 9/ 1964- Fox et al. 21270 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. EVON C. BLUNK, Examiner.

A. L. LEVINE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. HOISTING CRANE FOR SPECIALLY HEAVY HOISTING, COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL CRANE MAST PART, BAR PARTS SUPPORTING THE CRANE MAST, A CRANE ARM PART TURNABLE AROUND A VERTICAL AS WELL AS AROUND A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND ATTACHMENT MEANS FIXING THE POSITION OF THE CRANE MAST PART AND ITS SUPPORTING BAR PARTS, SAID MAIN PARTS OF THE CRANE BEING REMOVABLY FIXED TO EACH OTHER AND TO SAID ATTACHMENT MEANS, THE WEIGHT OF EACH SUCH PART BEING LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF THE MAXIMUM LIFTING CAPACITY OF THE CRANE, A PLATFORM CARRYING WINCH MACHINERY FOR THE OPERATION OF THE CRANE, SAID CRANE MAST PART AND ONE OF THE SUPPORTING BAR PARTS BEING FASTENED TO THE PLATFORM, THE CRANE MAST PART BEING FOLDABLE IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE PLATFORM, AND MEANS INCLUDING A PIVOTED SUPPORT TRESTLE CONNECTABLE TO THE WINCH MACHINERY FOR RAISING THE MAST PART. 